Does Current Melee Have Place In The Combat?

[GrenoiR]

First of all, I would like to thank everybody in Dev team who works hard on integrating this amazing aspect into the game. I know it was not planned from the start and I am obliged to say that everything DE has done so far is great! The game is moving in the right direction in terms of melee. However In this post I wanted to point out what I personally find lacking in the mechanics as of now and would like to hear from other fellow Tennos.

1. The system is very decent offense-wise however wouldn`t it be nice to have and actual aiming system for melee? I mean if we could actually aim our attacks. Cos now there is no axis for the animation - its just straight forward.

2. I LOVE the simplistic approach to the combat where there are no stupid DMC comos and mid-air 360 and sh*t. nevertheless, there is still space to polish animations (especially the "on-the-move" ones) and maybe IF aiming feature is ever implemented the animations could be even trimmed and simply adjusted to three- four variations of attack where the rest will be handled by aiming. I think at least two variations for power attacks would be nice as well.

3. The last one and the most important one. Now the only way to use melee as a primary weapon is to mod the hell out of it which means that you simply cut through most enemies like butter. All that is done because there is no other alternative to be able to withstand CQC situations with heavy armored enemies because the defense part of the gameplay is still very raw and unstable. I am exited about the block function being added but it does not feel viable just yet. What aobout parrying or some simple counters that may help expose the enemy?

Overall the system only sees reasonable improvements so far and I am very happy about it as I am sure many others. But I just felt that I should vocalize my thoughts to help bring out a subject I consider vital to this game. In the end in one of the interviews it was said: "gunplay, powers and melee should feel like three equal aspects of the game`s core" So I am posting this just because I want that statement to be true.

[WhiteTimberwolf]

Agreeing here, as I'm running around with a level 12 basic blade and I still don't feel that the weapon is doing anything against even the beginning enemies when rapidly pressing the CQW button.

[Shaftronics]

The "Beginning enemies" I'm assuming are the Grineer. They're heavily armored and thus, require armor piercing capabilities to deal full damage to.

A charged melee attack however, pierces armor. I was cleaving Grineer into two with a basic Skana pretty easily back then.

[Aramahn]

Once I had Fang, all my melee woes went away. You instantly become a walking salad shooter.

[comeonandslam]

Like Shaftronics said, use a charged attack or use a melee weapon with armor piercing like daggers, staves, or hammers.

[Bloodytaste]

Mhh Aiming and better animations would be nice, but I do not really think that point 3 would make anything better

[GrenoiR]

Point 3 can be replaced by better an more fluid dodging/rolling so that you can actually avoid damage while slashing someone. My biggest concern that actually sprouted the number 3 idea is those infestation brutes that hit you and you are stunned so that really goes in a way with my swordsplay, if i could roll/dodge faster/better it would be nice. I really enjoy sidewas dodging and backflips that are done while aiming down the sights... ---> if these would be somehow implemented in the melee then it would be a valid alternative for blocking.

[Hixen]

The only thing in my opinion missing from melee gameplay is actual evasive abilities or movements, I mean, ninjas are not supposed to be tanks, but evasive and squishy warriors.

In the end though I think this game is just not made to be 100% focus in either meele or shooting, its a mix of them both.

[Enomilli]

Make all weapons multi target...the single handed weapons are literally useless and lack luster compared to dual weapons and two-handed weapons.

This imbalance must be fixed...otherwise people will only dual wield or use two-handed weapons.

[GrenoiR]

The only thing in my opinion missing from melee gameplay is actual evasive abilities or movements, I mean, ninjas are not supposed to be tanks, but evasive and squishy warriors.

In the end though I think this game is just not made to be 100% focus in either meele or shooting, its a mix of them both.

Well I agree that is indeed one of the points. I understand its not a 100 melee game that is why I do not want them to go all combo-style swords flying bullsh*t. However refining the existing model would only benefit the game, especially a potent aiming system.

[MofineBovine]

I find i pretty much only do jump attacks to knock stuff over and charge attacks to kill things. just charge attack over and over and over and over. Occasionaly do a slide kill for somthing to do, even though i know i could just run up to it and do a charge attack...

The game could do with at least the basic 3 swing combo type of thing where you can hold to charge either of the different swings. Its woulndt actualy add much to the game but at least i would feel like i was doing differrent charge attacks every now and then.

[Xariann]

My main beef with melee is that it feels the same to me, or well, not different enough.

I tried the starting Skana, another one I can't recall the name for now, the "ceramic sword", Dual Skana, the Gram, the Bo staff and the gauntlets. All of them seem to kill enemies with one charged melee (I can't remember if the Bo staff did now, it's been a while). That alone makes it a bit silly to even consider changing melee weapon, just stick to one.

The Gram was a bit of a disappointment for me. I don't seem to kill things any quicker than with my Dual Skana, and I guess the point is that you try to balance all weapons, but I don't feel its "huge cutting power". It has wider range, yes, that's about the only thing that feels different. It sounds also like a staff, rather than a blade.

Maybe you should allow the blade to do a lot more damage per swing, but make it slower and possibly add some "recovery time" at the end of each animation. Don't make it too cumbersome, but do make it somewhat and compensate with damage.

I didn't try the hammer but I wager it has the same problem.

As far as I remember the Bo Staff only knocked things back when they died (so does the Paris Bow, but the Bow can one shot a lot of stuff). I didn't find that useful because the chance that things stand one behind the other isn't that high, so effectively the knock back isn't that great.

TLDR: I think melee weapons need to feel more different, the pros and cons have to be felt, and right now I don't think that's the case.

Edited April 6, 2013 by Xariann

[Shaftronics]

I have a maxed Gram and Bo staff, and dare I say, these are more of "Late game" weapons that do require mods before they begin to shine and perform at a level you didn't expect to when you first started using them.

[chuuburg]

Blocking has to come up faster if not close to instant and has to completely mitigate damage for it to actually be useful, think star wars games where you push block and it comes up instantly.

And im are not talking about "godmode while blocking is up" here, you are draining stamina so it is a trade off.

Also the "blocking shield aoe" needs to be bigger, and it needs to block more things like melee attacks.

It will actually add more depth to the combat and boss fights then.

I tried blocking the Stalker once and my life was draining like no tomorrow.

Players need to be able to melee -> block and move to next enemy -> melee and repeat.

At higher level maps using melee will be useless if getting shot at by 20 grineers/corpus in open areas.

[Imbaland]

Anything that doesn't die one shot from a fully charged attack is a no go for melee combat. At the point where I am currently, the only thing that does in a single charged hit are th box head dudes.

[Shaftronics]

Depends on how fast charge attack goes for.

Charge attacking an ancient a few times is still more economical/faster than shooting its head in with anything less than a Hek.